Scottish authorities are looking more likely to agree on a deal to revive the 2026 Commonwealth Games, following Victoria’s last-minute decision to pull out from hosting over a cost blowout.
Money remains the key issue but a “multimillion-pound investment” from Commonwealth Games Australia announced on the weekend appears to have moved the needle.
Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray welcomed the extra funding for a possible Glasgow 2026 Games, coupled with £100 million ($195 million) already pledged by the Commonwealth Games Federation, ahead of meetings with Australian officials on Monday.
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The Scottish National Party insisted there were still discussions to be had but said it was “more likely now than when we entered these discussions that we’ll be seeing the Commonwealth Games coming to Scotland”.
The Scottish government was “making progress” in its talks with the Australian and international Games bodies, the Glasgow council and the UK government, he told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland.
He said on top of the financial considerations, with Scottish authorities not wanting to tip public funds into the event, the government didn’t want to “reputationally” tarnish the legacy of Glasgow 2014.
“I did not wish to see us in a position where we would be taking in any way a step back from Glasgow’s incredible reputation for hosting international events,” said Gray, whose department also covers sport.
“But I am hopeful that we will be able to recognise that if we are to go ahead, this is a different Games.
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“This is a smaller event, fewer sports across fewer sites, but with good collaboration, we could see something coming forward that is still positive for Glasgow and for Scotland, and critically for Scottish sport.”
Victoria’s decision to host and then abandon the 2026 edition cost the state almost $600 million, according to a scathing report by the state’s auditor-general’s office (VAGO) in March.
The report found the cancelled Games cost the state more than $589 million, and that the $6.9 billion cost blowout used to justify their cancellation to the public was “overstated and not transparent”.
When it announced it was hosting the Games in April 2022, the Victorian government said it would cost $2.6 billion, only for then-premier Daniel Andrews to say that figure had blown out to almost $7 billion after the state backed out as hosts last July.
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VAGO said that figure was inaccurate and glossed over an existing $1 billion budget allocation.
The decision left the CGF scrambling to find a replacement amid a global drive to reduce the costs of major one-off events such as the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.
On Saturday, Commonwealth Games Australia president Ben Houston said the organisation would try to reduce any reputational or financial risks to the Scottish government.
“Commonwealth Games Australia welcomes the enthusiasm for the Games by the Scottish and UK Governments, and we want to do all that we can to make Glasgow 2026 a reality,” Houston said.
“We appreciate that the model is different and that that creates perceived financial and reputational challenges, but we have every confidence in the model proposed by Commonwealth Games Scotland.
“As one of the beneficiaries of the settlement with the Victorian Government, we today commit a multi-million pound investment into the Games to be further negotiated with Commonwealth Games Scotland and the Scottish government.”
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